Comments for Consumers

This page/column contains information which may be of interest to consumers. The information is based on articles which appear in Australian Prescriber. As Australian Prescriber is written for health professionals, you should discuss any issues raised by this page/column with your doctor or pharmacist. They will be able to give a more detailed answer to your questions by reading the main article.

Australian Prescriber is unable to comment on individual cases or give second opinions.

---

Australian Prescriber Vol. 28 No. 5 2005

Medicines for mental illness in children

Children and adolescents can develop mental health problems. Often these can be managed without the need for medicines.

In some cases the child's problems may be severe enough to require a medicine. A common example is the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with amphetamines. Sometimes medicines work best in combination with a program to change behaviour.

Problems such as persistent bed wetting can usually be managed in general practice. More complex problems such as psychotic symptoms need specialist management.

There is limited information about using medicines to treat some psychiatric illnesses in children. For example, there has been debate about how to treat severe depression in children. There is a concern that young people given antidepressants may be more likely to consider suicide.

Asking about the safety of the medicine and the evidence that it works is important when a psychiatric drug is recommended for a child.